The Armonica Waxes
The Armonica in England
The music glasses became quite popular in England. Jackson’s Oxford Journal for December 12th, 1761, contains the following:
The Young Gentleman who has performed on the Musical Glasses, by permission of the Vice-Chancellor, takes this method of returning thanks for the great encouragement and kind reception he has met with: and to give notice that this day . . . will be positively the last of his performances at Oxford; and that early Monday morning he will set out for Bath, and purposes to stop that day at the New Inn at Abindgdon for the entertainment of the Ladies and Gentlemen of that town.Source ???
They were mentioned in Oliver Wakefield’s popular novel of the day The Vicar of Wakefield (1761):
They would talk of nothing but high life, and high-lived company; with other fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare and the musical glasses.
Wakefield (1761), Chapter 9. An almost identical quote is found in chapter 10.
As we have seen, Marianne Davies performed on the armonica throughout Great Britain from early 1762 to 1764[question about their chronology], and in London from June 1767 to fall 1768. She seems to have returned to England around 1797—she doesn’t appear to have performed any more. Schuman ??? and Largeau were two other armonica players who performed in London from 1762–1767—little is known of them.
Pohl (1867), 374
In 1778 Frick arrived in London and apparently performed until around 1795 (when he experienced his spiritual conversion).
Kirchgaessner arrives in London in 1794 and performs until 1796 when she leaves for the Continent.
In Samuel Coleridge’s play Remorse (1812), the beginning of Act III finds itself in an underground crypt with a sorcerer, and the script indicates ’soft music from an instrument of glass or steel.’
Coleridge (1903), 378
In 1818 Samuel Coleridge writes in The Friend:
A true musical taste is soon dissatisfied with the harmonica, or any similar instrument of glass or steel, because the body of the sound (as the Italians phrase it), or that effect which is derived from the materials, encroaches too far on the effect from the proportions of the notes, or that which is given to music by the mind.
Coleridge (1866), Section II, Essay 6
I’m not sure I understand what he means (the rest of the essay isn’t much help), but it’s certainly clear he doesn’t care for it!
I haven’t found any further mention of glass armonica performances in England in the early 19th century—did the fact that it was invented by the British “traitor” Benjamin Franklin have something to do with that? Meanwhile, performances on the musical glasses in variety shows are frequent.
The Armonica in Italy
Franklin wrote to Beccaria in July of 1762 describing his new musical invention, which he had renamed to the new Italian name armonica. Franklin’s long-time correspondence with Beccaria rarely diverged from scientific and personal matters, so Franklin’s long description of the armonica is rather out of character. We surmised that Franklin believed Beccaria, who had so effectively championed his ideas about electricity throughout Europe, would prove an equal champion for his new musical invention. Franklin was not very well known in Europe yet so he didn’t have a long list of options. “[Franklin] was convinced that the armonica was an important addition to the family of musical instruments, and that it was destined perhaps to supersede the harpsichord and piano. Hence, as previously with his stove and lightning rod, he must have been anxious to see humanity blessed with the new invention as soon as possible. That intent could obviously be no better served than by having his instrument adopted and cultivated in the land that was the musical Mecca to which the western world still turned for diversion and instruction. What then more logical than for him to dedicate his new instrument to a prominent Italian in order to take advantage of Italy’s musical hegemony? An Italian name for the invention, along with a national compliment or two for good measure, was probably calculated to contribute further to put the Italians in a receptive mood.”
Pace (1958), 273–274
If that was Franklin’s plan, it didn’t work. Beccaria was interested in literature, painting and sculpture—but not music. Consequently, Franklin’s letter of 1762 was not published in Italy until 1769, and only then due to the efforts of the distinguished historian and Latinist Baron Guiseppe Vernazza. It wasn’t printed again until the mid 1770’s, exhumed presumably due to the concertizing of Marianne Davies, who arrived in Italy with her sister in late 1770/early 1771. Beccaria’s letter of May 20, 1771 which serves as an introduction to his Artificial Electricity opens with elaborate thanks:
I thank you, distinguished Sir, for the exact description of your new and truly harmonious crystal clavichord (thus it is granted you to illumine the mind of man with the principles of the new electrical science, to reassure his spirit against the horror of strokes with your [lightning] conductors, and to soothe his senses with sweet and pathetic music); and if I were capable, I would thank you in the name of our Italy for having, as you say, given your worthy instrument the name of Armonica precisely because of our harmonious language.[PBF 18:109ff]
Artificial Electricity was a revised and expanded edition of the book on electricity (based on Franklin’s ideas) that he had written two decades earlier. There isn’t much connection between a musical instrument and electricity, but Franklin’s description of the armonica had recently been published in English, and translated into Italian (both in 1769[PBF 18:109]); the armonica was in the public eye thanks to Marianne Davies, and Beccaria may well have wanted to use his connection with the increasingly famous inventor to advertise his new edition.
The correspondence between the two Milanese brothers Counts Pietro and Alessandro Verri in the end of the eighteenth century gives us a window into the history of the armonica in Italy. English travelers had brought musical glasses to Italy before Franklin’s letter to Beccaria, and Pietro Verri, charmed by the sound, experimented with them himself before hearing the armonica. He had over one hundred glasses made and amused himself by playing simple tunes. But he wasn’t happy with the results, because he could only play two notes at a time, and because the water tuning was not only troublesome, but interfered with the timbre and resonance.
Pace (1958), 274ff ??? CHeck this reference--the previous 3 paragraphs used to be ONE
One can thus easily imagine Pietro’s excitement on hearing of the armonica from his brother Alessandro who was traveling in London. Alessandro’s letters of recommendation and personal qualities gained him immediate access to London’s most exclusive society during the three months he spent in England. Of course he had to visit Franklin, who had returned to London in 1764. And we find Alessandro writing home to his brother on January 27, 1764:
I have been to see the Newton of electricity, the famous Franklin. He is a man of over fifty years of age. You know that by pressing and sliding a moistened finger over the edge of a glass a sound is produced. He has made the instrument on this principle. He has strung on a spindle, or common axis, as many glass bells as correspond to the pegs of a harpsichord, proportionately graduated. The spindle turns by means of the left foot, with a wheel, as the knife grinder does. At the same time one touches with the fingers, as one does a harpsichord the bells which spin like wheels, after having first wet them slightly with a sponge. A melody comes out which goes to the heart. . .
Veri (1923), 1(1): 234; quoted in Pace (1958), 275
A year and a half later Pietro writes that he is determined to own an armonica. English general Henry Humphrey Evans Lloyd had paid him a visit in early 1768 and returned to England. Pietro writes:
Lloyd is having sent to me from London an armonica, which is the instrument that you saw at Franklin’s. Within a month it should be at Genoa. He tells me that the basses are so powerful that they make the air vibrate and the windows of the room tremble. Tell me if you found it so. This winter an Englishman has been with us who played on the glasses, but it was not the device of the armonica. There were thirty-two glasses fixed motionless on a table and with a determined amount of water. By rubbing the fingers over them, a rather pleasing sound was produced. The chiaroscuro and expression are superb. There is no brilliancy, but there is the most touching passion, and I was enchanted with it. If the armonica produces a similar effect, I shall be satisfied.
Veri (1923), 1(2): 363–364; quoted in Pace (1958), 275–6
Alessandro replied promptly:
The London armonica must be precisely the one that I saw at Franklin’s. It seemed delightful to me. There are a number of graduated glass bowls strung on an axle which, placed in horizontal position, is spun with a pedal. One moistens his hands with a sponge and plays as on the keys of a harpsichord. The Marquise has also heard the instrument with the thirty glasses and says that at first she was ravished with delight, and finally she was bored. I believe that this is so because it does not sustain the tone, and, after the strokes, the sounds continue and become confused. There are none of these inconveniences in the armonica. Franklin played only a rather simple minuet for me, but I liked it very much. What charmed me was to hear a sweet and aerial sound without being able to determine the place it came from, because there is no striking of strings, nor hiss of breath, which in other instruments determine the seat of the sound and make it harsh. This is a human voice, but of greater mellowness and sweetness. I hope that you will get much pleasure from it.
Veri, 1(2): 375; quoted in Pace (1958), 276
Poor Pietro couldn’t know that he destined to never have an armonica. By the end of 1771 he had concluded that Lloyd had forgotten his promise. Marianne Davies’ visit to Milan at about this time must have fueled his desire and frustration. His remark: “At the present time there is an Englishwoman who plays it [the armonica]; it’s heavenly” must refer to Marianne Davies.
Veri (1919), 4: 291, Pace (1958) 276
Veri (1919), 4: 291, quoted in Pace (1958) 276
Obviously inspired by Marianne Davies, Pietro made one more attempt, this time through his brother who had connections in England. In December, 1771, Alessandro commissioned his London agent to furnish an armonica, but he warned Pietro that no merchandise had ever reached him from London in less than eight months.[Veri 4:303, Pace 276] In January 1772 Alessandro reported that a friend of his “just come from London had seen the armonica played by poor women circulating bout the cafs, and on such evidence assured his brother that the instrument could not be very expensive.” In February, Alessandro’s London agent informed that he would talk with Franklin immediately about an armonica for Pietro. Alas, a month later the London agent reported:
Pace (1958), 276–277
Veri, 5:25
We went to the workman who made several of the well known armonicas for this Dr. Franklin, the inventor, but he said that he is so weary of that work that he would not undertake another at any price. Hence there remains only to whether there is in London some other mechanic capable of such things. . .
Veri, 5:61-62, quoted in Pace 277
Pietro’s reply shows that he has come to appreciate the difficulties involved in constructing a good armonica, and has resigned himself to the likelihood that he shall never obtain one: "It will take patience; and if an armonica is found, it will be something more than I expect. Dear Sandrino, I thank you for the trouble that you have taken. . . "
Veri, 5:61–62, quoted in Pace (1958), 277
After this, there is no further discussion of the armonica in the correspondence of the two brothers.
Scattered bits of information remain concerning the fortune of the armonica in Italy. Around 1772 the Milanese nobleman Count Lodovico Barbiano di Belgioioso, then retired to London after a strenuous military and political career in the service of Austria, wrote to Franklin to obtain the address of the workman who made glasses for the armonica so he can make one for the French ambassador. Due to the difficulty of playing the armonica, and the rumors of “nerve damage” one Abbey Mazzuchi tried mounting the bells in a case and playing with violin bows. In 1785, Franklin’s curiosity was piqued by the report of the success of a “keyboard armonica” by an Abbé Perno, who to judge from his name, may have been Italian.
Papers of Benjamin Franklin 19: 305
Pace, 281. See also Forkel (1782), 32
In 1790 the anonymous author of the Roman Anthology wrote:
. . . all those who have heard it played confess that it is the most attractive, the most melodious, the most dramatic [instrument] hitherto conceived, and that, with its tragic, penetrating, and pure sounds, and its sweet and harmonious concents[sic] that can be at pleasure maintained, strengthened, and made to die away imperceptibly, it is more capable than any other pinstrument[ of moving, charming, and seducing souls and of making them fall into the most delicious reverie.
Pace (1958), 281–282
And in 1826, Lichtenthal—an adoptive son of Italy—advised that “the nervously infirm should not attempt to play it at all, the hale should play it in moderation because its excessively dulcet tones induce melancholia; and those in whom the darker bile tends to predominate should either shunt the instrument completely, or else play only sprightly tunes on it.”
Pace (1958), 282
The Armonica in France
In the mid-eighteenth century there had been a concerted effort among the philosophes in France to combat ignorance and superstition by gathering together every scrap of known scientific knowledge and publishing it. One of these efforts was a 35-volume landmark Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert (appearing in installments between 1751 and 1780). The musical glasses were sufficiently popular to receive an entry (quoted here in full):
Glasses, musical, (Arts) For many years one has imagined producing, with the help of glasses, a new type of harmony, very pleasing to the ear.
It is claimed that it is an Englishman named Puckeridge who is the inventor; however this method is known for a long time in Germany. The instrument which is useful for this effect is an oblong quarree[???] box, in which are arranged & fixed several round glasses of different diameters, in which one puts water in various quantities. While rubbing with the wet finger on the edges of these glasses which are a little rentrans[???], one draws some from them very-soft, very melodious & very-constant sounds; & one can play extremely pleasant airs in this manner.
The Persians have for a long time a nearly similar way of producing sounds; it is while striking with small sticks seven porcelain cups filled with a certain quantity of water, which produces harmonies.
Verres, musiqe des, (Arts.) on a imaginé depuis quelques anneés de produire `a l’aide des verres une nouvelle espece d’harmonie, trés flatteuse pour l’oreille. On pretend que c’est un anglois nommé Puckeridge, qui en est l’inventeur; cependant cette mthode est connue depuis long-tems en Allemange. L’instrument dont on se sert pour cet effet est une bote quarrée oblongue, dans laquelle sont ranges & fixés plusieurs verres ronds de différent diameters, dans lesquels on met de l’eau en différentes quantités. En frottant avec le doigt mouillé sur les bords de ces verres qui sont un peu rentrans, on en tire des sons tr`es-doux, tr`es-mélodieux & tr`es-soutenus; & l’on est parvenu `a jouer de cette maniere des airs fort agréables. Les Persans ont depuis fort long-tems une faon `a peu-pr`es semblable de produire des sons; c’est en frappant avec de petits bˆatons sur sept coupes de porcelaine remplies d’une certaine quantité d’eau, ce qui produit des accords. Double check ending???
In 1765 the Davies performed in Paris??? citation, which would appear to be France’s introduction to this instrument. 1778 found the Davies sisters in Paris, but Marianne appears to be plagued by “ill health” and presumably didn’t perform.
Kirchgaessner never performed in France.
Mesmer arrived in Paris with his armonica in 1778. Mesmer didn’t give public performances on his armonica, but it was a prominent feature of his well-known “animal magnetism” treatments. Mesmer left Paris in 1785. He returned briefly in ????.
Robertson opened his Fantasmagoria in Paris in 1798; they continued cuntil he left Paris in 1803.
Chateaubriand writes of the musical glass that “the ear of a mortal can perceive in its plaintive tones the echoes of a divine harmony.”???
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) in his biography The Life of Chopin (1863)year is right??? of his colleague and friend Frederic Chopin (1810–1849) describes Chopin playing in his apartment, comparing it to the armonica:
His apartment, invaded by surprise, was only lighted by some wax candles, grouped round one of Pleyel’s pianos, which he particularly liked for their slightly veiled, yet silvery sonorousness, and easy touch, permitting him to elicit tones which one might think proceeded from one of those [h]armonicas of which romantic Germany has preserved the monopoly, and which were so ingeniously constructed by its ancient masters, by the union of crystal and water.
Liszt (1863), 51–52
George Sand (1804–1876), Chopin’s long-time lover gave the armonica a brief appearance in her novel La Comtesse de Rudolstadt (1856). In her novel, the heroine Consuelo, in Vienna, wakes up to find herself in prison. She is rescued, only to be subjected to a Masonic-like ritual of initiation in which the armonica plays a role. Notice the extraordinary footnote Sand includes to explain the armonica to the reader:
In this moment the doors of the temple opened with a metallic noise, and the Unseen Ones entered two by two. The magical voice of the armonica, that recently invented instrument[ 13], whose vibrant, penetrating quality was a wonder unknown to Consuelo’s ears, was borne on the air, and seemed to go down from the dome that lay open to the moonlight and the refreshing breezes of the night. . .
(Note 13: Everyone knows that the armonica created such a sensation with its appearance in Germany, that the imaginations of poets heard in it supernatural voices, evoked by the celebrants of certain mysteries. For some time this instrument, considered magic before it became popular, was raised by the practitioners of German theosophy to the same divine honor as the lyre among the ancients, and as many other musical instruments among primitive people of the Himalayas. From the armonica they evoked one of the hieroglyphic figures in their mysterious iconography, representing it in the form of a fantastic dream. Neophytes in secret societies, hearing it for the first time after the terrors and emotions of their harsh initiations, were so deeply affected by it that several fell into ecstasy. They believed they heard the song of the invisible powers, because the player and the instrument were carefully hidden from them. There are some very curious details on the extraordinary role of the armonica in the initiation ceremonies of Illumination.)
Sand (1856), 472–473
The Armonica in Germany
Though the armonica was invented in England, it’s really in Germany that it found its home—embraced and loved like nowhere else.
1766: The armonica is described in the Hanoversche Magazin and the Leipziger Wöchentliche Nachricten die Musik betreffend
Stück 59. Cited in Forkel (1782), 30
S. 71. Cited in Forkel (1782), 30
1768: Marianne Davies performed in Vienna [??? Or 1769].
1769: Frick tours throughout Germany. He gives a concert in Frankfurt on September 16, which includes this description of his instrument: “This instrument consists of pure glass bells, from which one hears a fine and singing tone unlike anything else in music.”
Quoted in Israel (1876), 50
1773: Frick tours Germany again, (Hamburg in February), and leaves for Russia
1776 or 1777: Frick returns to Germany from Russia
1778: Frick leaves for London
1780: Roellig takes up the armonica and goes on tour
1781: Roellig performs in Hamburg
1782: The Almanach für Deutschland auf das Jahr 1782 (“Almanac for Germany for the year 1782”) announces Franklin’s new invention:
Forkel (1782), 30
Of all musical inventions, the one of Mr. Franklin has created perhaps the greatest excitement. Concerning the way of producing tones, it is an entirely new kind of instrument. But considering the remaining aspects, it has similarites to the glockenspiel, the electrical machine, and the so-called Nuremburg Geigenwerk
a keyboard instrument in which the strings are rubbed by a moving band. Invented in 1575 by Hans Haiden of Nürnberg; Vincenzo Galilei saw one in Munich and later described it. See Marcuse (1964), “Geigenwerk”, p.202
??? India rubber fingers, useless without keyboard, etc.
It goes on to mention among “clever instrumental artists in Germany” who performed on the Armonica one Fricke, Court Organist of the Markgraf von Baden-Baden, and a certain Röllig and Kirchgaessner.
Sonneck, Suum, 66
1787: Roellig’s ¨ Uber Die Harmonika: Ein Fragment
1788: Roellig performs in Hamburg
1791: Kirchgaessner performs in Vienna; Mozart composes his quintet (K617) for her; Roellig moves to Vienna
1792: Kirchgaessner performs in Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Hamburg and Magdeburg
1796: In November Kirchgaessner performs in Hamburg in November and December
1800: F.F. Hurka (1762–1805) a minor musician of Bohemian origin, a tenor singer in various towns and concert director in Berlin, includes a song about the armonica in a collection published around 1800. The song is entitled ’An die Harmonika’, a setting of words by ’Richter’ (probably Jean-Paul Richter). The first and second of the six stanzas are as follows:
Youngest and fairest of the fair daughters of sweet harmony, to whom that mother gave omnipotence in magical sounds, thou, sent to comfort mortals whom the goddess saw lamenting, wert turned aside from Elysium and didst become— ‘Harmonika’. When first every ear hearkened to the new sound, all the sons of earth abandoned themselves to enchantment: their intoxicated spirit seemed to hear the harmony of the spheres and the song of the angels in praise of the Uncreated.
Quoted from, and translated by King (1956) 68
1801: Kirchgaessner performs in Hanover and Frankfurt
1804: Kirchgaessner performs in Leipzig. Roellig dies in Vienna
1805: Kirchgaessner performs in Berlin and Breslau
1806: Kirchgaessner performs in Vienna.
1808: Kirchgaessner performs in Prague; Kirchgaessner & Goethe meet.
1809: Kirchgaessner performs in Stuttgart, dies in Schaffhauser.
1812: Hanslick records a concert given at Belin which includes a trio for three armonicas!
Hanslick (1869) 1:135
1813: E.T. Hoffman publishes a review of Beethoven’s Piano Trios, Op. 70[AMZ, 15:3, March 1813, 141–54, ??? check original quoted in Hoffman, ed. Charlton, p. 300ff.??] in which he says of a certain passage in the Beethoven piece:
If these sextuplets are played with a dexterous light touch with the soft pedal down and the dampers raised, a susurration is produced that recalls the aeolian harp and the glass harmonica and has a quite wonderful effect when combined with the bowed notes of the other instruments.
To the soft pedal and the sustaining pedal the reviewer added the socalled harmonica pedal. The Germans added a pedal to their pianos called the “String Harmonica” or the “Harmonica Keyboard Glide”—the keyboard would slide over a tiny amount that resulted in only two of the three strings being struck by the piano (the third would sympathetically vibrate), making the sound quieter and more ethereal. It’s still present on modern grand pianos, except that the hammer now strikes only one of the three strings when the pedal is depressed—it’s now called the una corda pedal.
See Harding, 44ff.
1815: Beethoven composes his Melodrama for the glass armonica
1819: A letter by Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler appears in Der Freim¨ uthige[xvi, April 29 and 30, quoted in Hoffmann/Charlton 414ff].
First he discusses why the armonica is going out of fashion, and of the cause of all the ’fainting-spells’ the armonica caused:
Haude and Spener, in No. 31 of their journal[i.e. Berlinische Nachrichten von Staats- und gelehrten Sachen, March 13 1819] make it clear that Frau K[rickeberg]’s armonica playing was rather lacking in effect, and ask how it is that the armonica in general is no longer so effective as formerly; perhaps our nerves have become hardened or softened, or perhaps the fault lies in our ear-drums, now that they have been spoiled by all the drum-beating, trumpeting, tromboning, and keyed-bugling. On the other hand the Freim¨ uthige f ür Deutschland, in No. 62 of that journal,[March 27, 1819] calls the armonica the most beautiful and sonorous of all instruments, and praises the inspired fingers of this gifted artist which summoned forth the instrument’s ethereal echoes. I for my part, not having heard these ethereal echoes, must agree with Messrs. Haude and Spener that the astonishingly magical effect produced by the armonica years ago is now completely a thing of the past. But I am sure that our nerves have remained exactly the same, and that our eardrums, however battered they may be by drums and trumpets, are certainly still able to detect ethereal echoes too. . . .
Now if the Freim¨ uthige f ür Deutschland calls the armonica the most beautiful and sonorous of all instruments, then as a hardened musician I would reply that from the musical point of view the armonica is one of the most feeble and imperfect instruments there are! Of the welter of trivial ariettas and variations and polonaises and other insipid trifles that are normally played on it I will say nothing except to remark that, to a finer ear at least, any melody on the armonica sounds stiff and wawkward. The fault lies in the instrument’s mechanism, which makes it impossible even for the most practised player to connect the notes together in an artistic sense. This mechanism also precludes any rapid execution. On the other hand, the armonica affords the advantage of the organ, that the note continues as long as one’s finger touches the glass. This property means that the characteristic quality of the instrument can be fully exploited only in slow music written in strict style.
Interestingly, swooning at the sound of the glass armonica seems to have been a method for women to attract men:
Now if it is true that the armonica has such limited capabilities in music, then it is clear that the admiration and wonderment created by its novelty was aroused merely by its tone. . . In addition, the armonica’s popularity rose during the period of delicate nerves, and when it was claimed that the armonica exerted a magical influence on the nerves, the instrument could not fail to captivate every sensitive soul. For any young lady of breeding it would have been most ill advised, as soon as the glasses were even touched, not to fall into a tolerably convincing swoon; she would have risked becoming an immediate object of indifference to any young man of refinement, however long he had courted her with amorous glances. Even ladies of more mature age fancied themselves transported back ten or fifteen years by all the pangs of blessed rapture, and received an heart and a novelette in the bargain! Of the use made of the instruments by Mesmer I prefer not to think! Now, it seems, the age of delicate nerves and swoons is just about over.
He concludes with a story worthy of Roellig:
The best armonica player of recent times I have heard was a fine man of gentle and pleasing character who, returning home from the French war, resided for a few days in the same house as me. I am referring to none other than my inestimable friend, the Bashkirian Colonel Tetulow Pripop who, unjustly, has become little known in the musical world. This man was totally obsessed by the armonica which he found in my house; he played the whole day long, and was able to elicit from the instrument the strangest sounds on could ever hear; the melodies and chords he produced also rejoiced in the most amazing originality. The distinctive, inimitable sound which other good armonica players achieve only now and then, and which insensitive people claim to resemble the scraping of a knife across a window-pane, was so completely within the colonel’s power that he was able to produce it uninterruptedly.
The manservant to my dear Tetulow Pripop, a jolly young fellow with a most endearingly tigerish physiognomy, was so beside himself at his master’s virtuosity that with loud howls he threw himself down and kissed his feet. Yet it was not surprising that this person was so deeply moved, since he too ws musically gifted and was able, when playing his long, narrow, Bashkirian pipe, to awaken trul idyllic sensations in the breast. One was momentarily transported to the most beautiful toad-pond a sensitive soul had ever sat beside. I will eternally remember the occasion when Tetulow Pripop played the armonica for the last time. Overcome by profound emotion, he had removed his large, pointed fox-fur capas well as three small caps he was wearing beneath it; he sat there in his red cape, conjuring forth the most exquisitely ethereal harmonies, at which his tiger was also moved to wail and moan dreadfully.
Finally, as though in heart-breaking grief at the departure of their beloved friend, the majority of the glasses burst into pieces.
Thereupon the Bashkirian Colonel Tetulow Pripop pulled on a pair of white kid-gloves and hurried away to his regiment. I have never seen the good man since.
Hoffmann/Charlton 418–19
Schiller introduced it into his Geisterseher (Sämmtliche Werke) and in one of his letters wrote: “Die Wirkung dieses Instruments kann in gewissen Situationen mächtig werden. Ich verspreche mir hohe Inspirationen von ihr (Bd. 2, p.423).” ??? need years to put this in the chronology Other writers: Jean Paul (as in his Hesperus, Titan, and Quuintus Fixlein, Schubert and Wieland (cf. Neue Deutsche Merkur, 1804) were also enthusiastic.???
edited by E. von der Hellen, 1904, Bd. 2, p.275
The Armonica in Portugal
Richard Twiss in his Travels through Portugal and Spain in 1772 and 1775 observes:
I also heard [at Lisbon] a Portuguese lady’s performance on the musical glasses, which were empty, but her fingers were occasionally dipped in water.
Twiss (1775), 10
??? blue harmonica–see pasqual
The Armonica In America
During colonial times, the social lot of the native-born musician was extremely low. Following the model of the ancient Roman Republic, which many colonialists wished to adopt, musicians were routinely counted among the least desirable elements of society. In one tabulation of civic worth, the musician was listed just one notch above the three most useless professions of all: the actor, the sausage maker and the perfumer. It was a rare occurrence for a person to make his living entirely from music in America during the eighteenth century. Most were forced to double up on their talents and offer their services in the manner of one instrumentalist who sought employment in 1767 by advertising in the Virginia Gazette that he “shaves, dresses hair and plays on the French horn.”
Franklin rather shared this view: music made an excellent amusement but wasn’t really a proper profession.???
Stephen Forrage gave a performance on Dec. 31, 1764 “for the benefit of Mr. Forrage and others, assistant performers at the Subscription Concert”, including a performance on Franklin’s “famous Armonica, or Musical Glasses, so much admired for their great Sweetness and Delicacy of its tone.”
Quoted in Sonneck (1907), p.69
Carter
Nevertheless, the landed gentry of Virginia, always well informed about the latest trends in Europe, showed an early interest in the glass armonica. Councillor Robert “King” Carter, probably the richest man in the colony and an avid musician, owned the only known glass armonica in Williamsburg. Carter ordered one of the new instruments in 1764 without ever having heard it. But he had heard about it from Bruton Parish Church’s organist Peter Pelham:
Mr. Pelham of this Place is just returned from New York, he heard on that Journey Mr. B. Franklin of Phila: perform upon the Armonica: The Instrument pleased Pelham amazingly and by his advice I now apply to you, to send me an Armonica. . . ” Franklin played in N.Y.???
Carter’s instrument was probably the one Pelham played at a concert at Williamsburg’s Raleigh Tavern on Thursday, May 2, 1765, when George Washington was in the audience. Although Washington’s ledger book makes careful note of the 3 shillings 9 pence he spent for the ticket, there is nothing to indicate his opinion of the music.
The Carter children had a tutor, Philip Fithian, who was less reticent. It was Christmas 1773 when Fithian heard Mr. Carter play 'Water Parted from the Sea' upon it, and recorded his impressions in his diary:
Loesser, 438
Wednesday, December 22 (1773) . . . Evening Mr. Carter spent in playing on the Harmonica; It is the first time I have heard the Instrument. The music is charming! The notes are clear and inexpressibly Soft, they swell, and are inexpressibly grand; & either it is because the sounds are new, and therefore please me, or it is the most captivating Instrument I have Ever heard. The sounds very much resemble the human voice, and in my opinion they far exceed the swelling Organ.
Fithian (1957), 37
Philip Vickers Fithian, a plantation tutor in Virginia during 1773 and 1774, mentioned many musical instruments in his journal. In the following reference, the Colonel was Charles Carter, master of the plantation and the father of several children who were being tutored by Fithian:
The Colonel told me last Evening that he proposes to make the vacant End of our School-Room . . . a Concert-Room, to hold all his instruments of Music—As he proposes to bring up from Williamsburg his Organ, & to remove the Harpsichord, Harmonica Forte-piano, Guittar, Violin, & German-Flutes, & make it a place for Practice, as well as Entertainment.
Fithian (1957), p. 51
Carter described the armonica as “the musical glasses without water, framed into a complete instrument, capable of through [sic] bass and never out of tune.”
Fithian (1957), 243
Other music lovers were similarly impressed. Thomas Jefferson was so enamored of the glass armonica that he made arrangements to buy one six octaves long. Unfortunately such a behemoth did not exist, three octaves being the maximum produced at that time by London musical instrument makers.[???] For some reason—perhaps the instrument’s high cost-Jefferson never followed through on his purchase.
Nathanial Evans
Nathanial Evans (1742–1767), one of America’s earliest poets, was the son of a Philadelphia merchant. He was apprenticed to a counting house, but finding that life disagreeable he returned after his apprenticeship to the College of Philadelphia where, in 1765, “on account of his great merit and promising genius,” he was awarded in an M.A. degree although he had never taken the B.A. degree. He then went to England and received ordination from the Bishop of London. In December of 1765 he returned to America and became an Anglican missionary in New Jersey. He died in 1767.
In 1763, he had occasion to hear Franklin’s armonica in Philadelphia, and wrote a poem in praise of Franklin in general and the armonica in particular. While Evans was in London, the Chronicle printed it in the late summer of 1765. It was printed again in a collection of his poems (and one sermon), published by his friend William Smith five years after his death.[For a thorough history of the poem, see PBF 10:422ff.)
The last two stanzas of the poem concern the armonica:
To Benjamin Franklin, Esq., LLD.
Occasioned by hearing him play on the Armonica. Written in Philadelphia, 1763.
. . .
Aided by thee, Urania’s heav’nly art, With finer raptures charms the feeling heart; Th’Armonica shall join the sacred choir, Fresh transports kindle, and new joys inspire. Hark! the soft warblings, rolling smooth and clear, Strike with celestial ravishment the ear, Conveying inward, as they sweetly roll, A tide of melting music to the soul; And sure, if aught of mortal moving strain Can touch with joy the high angelic train, ’Tis such a pure transcendent sound divine As breathes this heart-enchanting frame of thine. Shall not the Muse her slender tribute pay? Her’s is no venal, but the grateful lay; Apollo bids it, where such virtues shine, And pours a graceful sweetness thro’ each line. Her country too, responsive to the sound, Swells the full note, and tells it all around.
The first recorded public appearance of the armonica in the New World was in Philadelphia, December 27, 1764, advertised in Franklin’s own Pennsylvania Gazette:
For the benefit of Mr. Forage, and other assistant performers at the subscription concert in this city, on Monday, the 31st. of this instant December, at the Assembly Room in Lodge Alley, will be performed A CONCERT OF MUSIC: consisting of a variety of the most celebrated pieces now in taste, in which also will be introduced the famous Armonica, or Musical Glasses, so much admired for the great sweetness and delicay of its tone. Tickets at 7s. 6d. each.
Quoted in Sonneck (1916), 68
In April 1765 Washington recorded in his diary, “By my exps. To hear the harmonica 3.9: this was at Williamsburg.[??? See Paul Leicester Ford’s monograph on ’Washington and the Theatre’ (Dunlap, Sco. Publ. 1899, op.cit. Sonneck (1907), 57, n.3]”]
Other Musical Glasses/Armonica Players
In 1792 Jacobus Pick played a concert for his benefit in Boston:
Columbian Centinel, Nov. 21, 1792, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 290
A Grand Symphony 	composed by Haydn Song	by a lady A Sonata on the Piano Forte	by a young lady A Flute Concerto	by a Gentleman amateur A Song	by Mons. Pick A Grand Symphony	composed by Pleyel The Song of Bellisarius	by Mr. Powell A Grand Overture A Grand Symphony	by Fils Song by a lady A Hautboy Concerto	by Mr. Stone A Quintetto composed by Pleyel, and performed by the Gentlemen amateurs of Boston Several pieces on the Harmonica	by Mons. Pick A Grand Overture.
In 1793 we have a concert in Boston by Jacobus Pick and William Selby consisting of:
Columbian Centinel, June 15, 1793, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 286
Overture Henry 4th A French Song	by Mr. Mallet A Clarinet Concerto	by M. Foucard A French Song.	by Madame Douvillier A Violin Concerto	by Mr. Boullay An Italian Duetto	by Messrs. Pick and Mallet A Flute Concerto	Messrs. Pick and Mallet La Chasse	.composed by Hoffmeister A Piano Forte Sonata	by Mr. Selby A French Trio	by Madame Douvillier, Messrs. Pick and Mallet A Duetto on the Harmonica	by Messrs. Pick and Petit A Symphony	composed by Pichell
On Dec. 12, 1793 we have another concert in Boston:
Quoted in Sonneck (1907), 293
1st Part
A grand Symphony	composed by Pichel
A French Song by Mr. Mallet Hautboy [oboe] Concerto by Mr. Stone An Italian Song, by Mr. Pick (with an Hautboy accompaniment)
2nd Part
A grand Overture A French Song with the accompaniment of the Spanish guitar and violin, by two amateurs A Violin Concerto	by Mr. Boullay A Clarinet Concerto	by Mr. Granger, Boullay, Mallet and Pick The overture of Henry IVth A French Duetto	by Mr. Pick and Mallet A Sonata on the Harmonica with several known airs	by Mr. Pick A Grand Smphony composed by Pleyel
Martini
In 1774 the South Carolina Gazette announced a concert in which:
Oct. 24, 1774; quoted in Sonneck (1907), 23]
The vocal parts [are sung by] Signora Castella, who will also perform several airs on the Harmonica or Musical Glasses.
There is also an interesting notice in the Pensylvania Packet for October 17th, 1774, inserted by H.B. Victor,
musician to her late Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and Organist of St. Georges in London, mentioning “’a new instrument,” a cymbaline de amour, which resembles the musical glasses played by harpsichord keys, never subject to come out of tune.
quoted in full in R.R.Drummond’s Early German Music in Philadelphia, NY, 1910, p.29 This ’cymbaline de amour’ may have something to do with Francis Hopkinson’s improvement.
Concerts of several hours duration were not uncommon in the day (prior to recordings, hearing music at all was limited to live performers, and was thus generally rare treat). At the same time, a ’Symphony’ (’Sinfonie’) might be listed on a concert, but only the first (of usually four) movements might be played.
In 1794 a P.A. Van Hagen gave a concert in New York consisting of:
Daily Advertiser, March 21, 1794, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 237
Act I
Overture Henry 4th and Entre Act	Martini Song of Nina	Mr.S Melmoth Concerto on the Violin	Master Van Hagen Song ’Sweet lillies of the valley’	Mrs. Hodgkinson Sonata Grand Piano Forte	Mrs. Van Hagen
Act II
Overture of Pleyel Song “The Highland laddie” 	. Mrs. Melmoth Concerto on the Violin	Mr. Van Hagen Song ’Sympathetic Echo’, accompanied by the Clarinet	Mr. Hodgkinson Concerto Grand Piano Forte	Mrs. Van Hagen Duett ’Cher object’,	Miss and Master Van Hagen Concerto (by particular desire) on the Carillon, or Musical Glasses. Composed by. .Mr. Van Hagen Finale by	Ditto
And in 1794 we have a concert in Boston:
Columbian Centinel, August 23, 1794, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 297
1st Part
A grand Symphony	by Pepichell [Pichl] Song by	Mrs. Pick Flute quartetto by	An amateur etc. Overture to the Deserter2 Song by	Mrs. Pick Chace [La Chasse] by Stamitz, the horn part by	Mr. Pick
2nd Part
Overture of Blase Babet3 Italian Duetto, by	Messrs. Pickand Mallet A Violin Concerto by	Mr. Boullay Song by	Mrs. Pick Overture Duetto by	Mr. and Mrs. Pick Several airs on the Harmonica by	Mr. Pick The Battle of Ivri4
In 1795 a concert was played at Petersburg, Virginia: 5
Part 1.
A Grand Sonata of Pleyel’s on the Piano Forte, accompanied on the violin 	By Mrs. Sully and Mr. Pick. A Favourite Song ’Whither my Love’	.By Mrs. Pick. A Favourite Scotch Reel, with variations	By Mrs. Sully. The Favourite Duett of ’the Way worn traveller’	By Mr. and Mrs. Pick. A Grand Sonata of Steibelt’s, to conclude with the favorite Air of ’The Rose Tree’ with variations	By Mrs. Sully. The Marseilles Hymn, in English	By Mrs. Pick.
Part 2
A Grand Sonata of Clementi’s on the Piano Forte, accompanied on the violin 	By Mrs. Sully and Mr. Pick. A French Song	By Mr. Pick. The Favourite Air of Lira Lira, with variations, from the Surrender of Calais 	By Mrs. Sully. An Italian Duet, sung by MRs. Sully and Mr. Pick The Favourite Air of Moggy Lauder, with variations on the Piano Forte 	By Mrs. Sully. The Hunting Song of Tally Ho!	By Mr. Pick. Sonata on the Italian Harmonica, with several known airs. To begin precisely at 7 o’clock. Tickets at 6 s. each. . .
by Arnold
In 1795 a concert was played at Charleston:
Advertised in the City Gazette, March 26, 1795, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 30
Act 1st.
Overture, composed by	Girovetz Song, by Mrs. Pick Quartetto	Pleyel Concerto on the Clarinet, composed and performed by	Mr. Dubois Song, by Mr. J. West Rondo.	Pleyel
Act 2st.
Sinfonie	Haydn Song, by Mrs. Pick Concerto on the Violin, by Master Duport	La Motte Song, by Mr. J. West Sonate on the Pianoforte, by Mr. Eckhard	Dussek Duetto, by Mr. and Mrs. Pick Pot Pourris on the Harmonica, by Mrs. Pick Sinfonie	Pleyel
A John C. Moller became rather a specialist on the armonica, which by 1795 was becoming “old news”. Nevertheless he seized the opportunity to “introduce that instrument . . . of which the late Dr. Franklin was the inventor”, and, said Moller:
Philadelphia Gazette, April 3 and May 1, 1795, quoted in Sonneck (1907), 142
This instrument since so much improved in Europe by the first artists is, in point of tone and sweet harmony, second to none and in performance of modulation from which it derives its name, not excelled by any other.
The audience could judge for themselves from the program he presented:
Quoted in Sonneck (1907), 143
Act 1
Overture	Haydn Song, arranged for the Harmonica by	Moller Quintetto	Pleyel Concerto Violin	Gillingham Full Piece	Pleyel
Act II
Overture	Haydn Overture	Pleyel Quartetto, Harmonica, 2 tenors and violoncello by.	Moller Concerto Violoncello	Manell(Menel) Fantasia Pianoforte	Moller Finale	Haydn